This paper focuses on the changing terrain of initial teacher training (ITT) for the lifelong learning sector in England. Drawing on research with teachers and teacher educators at four different lifelong learning sites, it explores the 'relative value' of different forms of ITT, validated by higher education institutions (HEIs) and alternative awarding bodies. It reveals that both teachers and teacher educators perceive HEI programmes as superior to other forms of teacher training, both in terms of labour market currency and the quality of learning provided. Although the majority of respondents regarded awarding body courses as adequate, our data reveals that most believed that HEI provision offers a significantly richer training experience.Drawing on our data, we argue that state-induced changes to the ITT qualification structure, combined with significant changes in funding and steeply rising costs for university courses, are likely to substantially reduce the likelihood of teachers in the lifelong learning sector accessing HEI-led provision in future.This, combined with the empowerment of employers and the shift back to voluntarism signalled by recent policy initiatives, may well end the involvement of universities with this provision -and drive a shift towards a narrower, more utilitarian regime of teacher training.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.